This curious history of London whisks you down the rabbit hole and into the warren of backstreets, landmarks, cemeteries, palaces, markets, museums and secret gardens of the great metropolis. Meet the cockneys, politicians, fairies, philosophers, gangsters and royalty that populate the city, their stories becoming curiouser and curiouser as layers of time and history are peeled back.

Dr Martin Latham has a PhD in history from London University and was a lecturer at Hertfordshire University before becoming a bookseller. He has managed Waterstones bookshop in Canterbury for over 30 years - the longest-serving Waterstones manager. He is proud of ordering the excavation of the Roman Bath-House floor at his bookshop, paying for it with the biggest petty cash slip in Waterstones history.